Blunt, Candid Love
by Crystal Spinning
Summary: AU. ShikaTema/Ino. She was the best damned friend either of them ever had, and she knew it too.


The sunny day was beautiful.

The starry night was beautiful.

The wedding was beautiful.

Ino was beautiful.

Hell, even Shikamaru was beautiful.

Temari... was not beautiful.

It was not bitterness or jealousy that had her thinking that. After all, she'd done the other woman's hair, makeup, helped design the dress, even gone to Suna for a month to stay with her to calm her jitters while Shikamaru was on an extended mission over to Kumo.

She'd done everything the older woman deserved.

Now, Temari bore the slightly flushed, ethereal glow of a bride on one of the happiest days of her life. It was well deserved. The pair had certainly been through many rough times together. Almost as many as their individual teams had experienced together. But, Ino decided, staring at Temari, she simply was just not as good-looking as Ino was. Or if she was, it was in a far different way. She was scarred and rough and walked with a lanky gait. Her hair was frizzed and her features were marked with a masculine expression of aggressive control. Suna was a hard place to live in, even for the Kazekage's beloved sister. The sand chapped her skin and the dryness of the air damaged her hair. The sun browned her unevenly, and she walked as if waiting for the ground to give way beneath her, as it so often would in her homeland. A better word for the older kunoichi was perhaps 'handsome' or 'striking'. Words like 'pretty' and 'cute' simply did not match her.

It was Temari and Shikamaru's day, though. Not hers, despite her desire to claim responsibility for the entire event. Despite her jealousy, and even the slight tinge of melancholy that she tried to hide with a few drinks that tasted just as bitter as she felt.

The happy couple pretended to be less happy than they really were, for the sake of their respective images - lazy guys and tough women did not glow and giggle giddily and feel quite unable to wipe their smirks off their faces. The pair was all but made for each other, everyone teased. Ino sat in the corner and watched the reception - but mostly watched Shikamaru and Temari together. They moved so easily, her rough, dominating movements balanced by his casual ease. It was a constant push-and-pull with them, and despite her loneliness, Ino felt herself smiling. Shikamaru had married his mother, just as she'd always evilly predicted, despite how much she loved Yoshino-san.

She recalled, briefly, the horror of being placed on the same team as Chouji and Shikamaru, years ago. She'd run home furiously, ready to bash some heads in because how had _Sakura_ gotten Sasuke-kun on her team while she was stuck with two lumps? But her father had made it clear that the Ino-Shika-Chou trio was _tradition_ because of how well their skills fit together, and she sighed, accepting it.

Besides, as a twelve-year-old, Asuma had been cool enough to balance out the other two. Granted, she'd realized belatedly just how _horribly horribly_ wrong she was the very second Asuma began to stutter and blush around Kurenai, but it had comforted her for a brief few days.

Shaking her head from bittersweet nostalgia, she sipped the dregs of her drink and pushed the cup away from her, wondering if she should just go to bed. She felt more exhausted than she had since the war had ended.

It was the biggest wedding she'd ever been too, filled with Sunagakure and Konohagakure citizens. Since both were close to their Kage, many people were invited, to Shikamaru's dismay.

She _should_ be watching her success. Temari had, after all, begged for her help in planning the nuptials when Shikamaru had nearly had a conniption. Ino, always gracious and always loving her skills to be desired and appreciated, was of course willing. And it was perfect - the timing, the cake, the flowers, the dress, the honeymoon. It had all been Ino. She'd arranged the entire event tirelessly, playing Bridezilla for a wedding that was destined to never be hers.

And now she sat, as the happy couple danced.

Interrupting her brooding, Chouji sat down next to her, a little out of breath, two glasses in hand. "Hey, Ino! You looked beautiful up there, making the speech."

Gratefully accepting the proffered alcohol, she swallowed it in one go and smiled modestly. "Oh... Chouji..." She forced herself to tease him. He would suspect her if she did not tease him, because he knew her better than anyone. Better than Sakura, better even than Temari or Shikamaru, because he was perceptive and sensitive and cared - he knew what morbid turmoil that she was going through, hidden by her bright smile and facade of vanity. He was the one there when Sakura was busy and when Shikamaru was 'on a mission' in Suna. "You know, it's really easy being this beautiful, but sometimes I try to fool mortals into thinking it's not, just so they feel better about themselves, y'know?"

He gave an appreciative, if forced, laugh and drained his own portion. They sat silently, until he asked her. "Do you want to dance?"

_Of course_ she wanted to dance. The envious little beast within her shrieked that this was her show, that _she_ was the one who basically resurrected Shikamaru each day when he refused to get out of bed, who had turned Temari from a fierce kunoichi with split ends into a blushing bride, who'd planned this entire show. She wanted to dance - but with someone else, on a day of her own.

She was surprised to note that Chouji was surprisingly graceful, moving with a dexterity that was belied by his size - not only was he one of the tallest men in his clan, he towered over her and Shikamaru. He would've dwarfed Asuma, if their beloved sensei had been there to see it.

There were too many people who weren't there to see the difference in the Ino-Shika-Chou trio. Her father and Shikamaru's father would never see the shy, sensitive boy so grown up and sure of himself. She rested her head against his chest, listening to his steady heartbeat.

Chouji had always been the most stable person in her life.

Her friendship with Sakura had always been up and down, her crushes on Sasuke and Sai had always ended depressingly, her father was often away on missions, and her romantic relationship was... rather nonexistent.

"You're being really brave."

The words in her ear jolted her, and she cricked in her and nearly knocked down her chignon in her attempt to meet his eyes. He did not release her, still holding her firmly and gently, as if she were wet clay.

"We are not going to talk about this." she snapped at him, immediately feeling guilty. Chouji had never been one for hiding his expressions, and the hurt that briefly flashed across his made her feel guilty for her snappish attitude.

Despite that, kind eyes looked down at her, and she felt her own water. No! She had spent nearly an hour perfecting this face, and she could not ruin it.

"Temari is really grateful to have you as a friend. She told me, last week."

She widened her eyes, more to keep the moisture from damaging her makeup than surprise. Of course Temari was grateful! Ino had planned her entire wedding, had orchestrated her entire relationship - both of those pigheaded idiots were too stubborn to make any first moves themselves. She'd almost slapped herself in the head when she realized she was in love, but it was too late. The entire relationship was all her fault, and despite the angry, hideous green beast that roared to life in her just as obnoxiously as Lee did - at the least opportune moments possible - she didn't really regret it.

She was just _sad_.

"And she said she knows."

Ino stiffened, unable to even keep on the facade of dancing anymore, and tried to walk away from Chouji. Sensitive, her ass! But he followed her anyway, out the door, and she tripped a little down a step in her heels - which meant she was drunk and emotional, and she knew that the terrible combination meant that she would be better off asleep.

"I don't want to talk about this, Chouji!"

He just looked at her, as if his heart ached for her.

"C'mere, you lump. I didn't mean to yell at you. It was hard for me, up there."

"I just wanted you to know that you did the right thing."

Ino tossed him a withering look. "Of course I did! When have I ever been wrong?"

He smiled a little at that. "I mean it, Ino. You're a great friend."

She shook her head and moved away from him. It wasn't about being a friend. It was about doing the right thing for two people who deserved it. And she would do anything for the both of them. "No, I'm not." Her answer was curt and she finally broke away, and he finally did not follow.

x

Ino's speech was dedicated to the two of them. As a close friend to both of them, she insisted on not choosing sides and instead talking about the pair of them.

"I remember when I introduced the pair of them!" Ino had declared dramatically, taking on her facade as the bossy, obnoxious teammate, grasping her fourth glass of wine and waving it around messily. Shikamaru scoffed, Temari snorted, and their collective friends booed. The circumstances of meeting the Sand Siblings had been slightly less than ideal. "Oh please, this isn't a time to think up of tedious shit like that! I mean a year later, when Temari came back for the diplomatic liaison. A perfectly normal, average time! Well... I told Chouji and Asuma-sensei to meet me at this nice little place in a secluded part of town... then told Asuma-sensei and Chouji if they actually showed up, I'd kill them."

Kurenai, seated closely to Shikamaru, the energetic toddler finally asleep on her lap, grinned. She had never heard this story before, and any story involving Asuma was one she wanted to hear. Kurenai was one who had never gotten a wedding, and Ino had insisted she be treated like a star.

"Anyway, so when I _accidentally_ stumbled on Temari on the way there, I insisted she join me! Then of course, since Chouji and Asuma-sensei hadn't showed up, I had to go off and look for them while Temari and Shikamaru held our seats!" She paused and posed dramatically, spilling a little bit of her drink on her hand. It felt sticky.

Chouji was chuckling, even if he looked a little teary at the mention of their late mentor, and Ino shot him a wink as she turned back to face the happy couple.

"Shikamaru..." She raised her glass higher. "You're the third man of the Ino-Shika-Chou trio, and we wouldn't be who we are without you... and without you keeping us grounded." She felt herself tearing up a little, but she meant every word: "I'm glad you're with the person who can put up with your shit..." A few people laughed at her choice of words, but she ignored them, glancing back at Chouji, who was nodding encouragingly. "I love you, Shika." She winked dramatically at Temari, and she didn't know if she hoped her underlying meaning would be conveyed or not, wondering if it was a confession or a joke, knowing she was just the slightest bit too tipsy to tell the difference, to stop the caress in her tone. "But never doubt that Temari is my favorite."


End file.
